Link Arms
There’s something I’ve seen starting to take shape at Summit that I wish everyone who attends or even works at Summit could see. I’m almost certainly just getting a small glimpse of it, but what I’m talking about is the collective effect of someone giving their time and talents in multiple ministries within the church.
I’ve been at Waterford since the beginning, and when you work in ministry— especially at a church-plant or a multi-site— you can end up wearing a bunch of different hats along the way. Since I started working at Summit six years ago, I’ve mainly been the Waterford Worship Minister. But I was also in charge of a College Bible Study for a semester or two, I was responsible for Student Ministries at Waterford for a year, I was in a couple musicals with the BCL folks, of course I’ve been a Connect group leader and a niceSERVE leader, and most recently I’ve started coordinating musicians for the 33rd Street Jail Campus (let me catch my breath…).
I’m definitely not saying all of this to brag—at times, doing this many things can leave me unfocused. But I’ve gotten to see a side of Summit that not many people get to see, because I’ve seen a lot of sides of Summit.
I’m writing to brag on the volunteers in this place and God working through them.
One of the first worship volunteers I had at Summit Waterford is still around today, and from time to time you can see her on stage in main service or leading worship in Student Ministries. She’s led large group worship for the kids and she’s even been a character in Base Camp Live! As I think about her, even more volunteers come to mind who have served in different areas within the church. As someone who has worked in several different capacities here, I’m as qualified as any to say that it’s very hard to put words to how amazing this can be.
“This kid gets to grow up in a place where faces are familiar and it’s truly their extended church family instead of one program handing them off to another.”
Think about it…A little kid might have a Base Camp leader who they come to really get to know and trust, and then when they go to the sixth grade, they see that face again from time to time leading worship for the middle schoolers and then the high schoolers and then later on they see them again in main service. And that’s just one person! This kid gets to grow up in a place where faces are familiar and it’s truly their extended church family instead of one program handing them off to another. That’s huge!
For a grown-up (…like I’m supposed to be) it can be inspiring just to see someone in your Connect group greeting people on a Sunday while serving in First Impressions, but the bottom line is the same… When you see people participating in multiple areas in the church, you realize they aren’t just doing their one specific thing. In fact, most of these super-volunteers wouldn’t even describe it as sacrifice. They love it! They see all of it as an opportunity to do big things and be around people they love.
People in this place really believe in the vision of the Church. I wrote Church with a big “C” because this isn’t just the vision of Summit. It’s God’s vision for His whole Church, and in a time when there’s entertainment everywhere and a million other things to do, it’s humbling and awe-inspiring to see what happens when we link arms, put our time and talents together to show God’s love, and truly are His family.
David Burleson is the Worship Minister for our Waterford campus. If you'd like to get in touch with him about volunteering or just to say "hey, thanks for serving in so many different ways at Summit!", you can email him at dburleson@summitconnect.org.